


Phoenix in the Light

by Saoirse_Roisin_Dubh



Series: The Phoenix and the Dragon [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 23:13:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19386424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saoirse_Roisin_Dubh/pseuds/Saoirse_Roisin_Dubh
Summary: 2/5 in Dramione One Shot SeriesWhen bad news comes, her world feels like it's crashing down. Will a new revelation break her, or remake her?





	Phoenix in the Light

Winter fell hard and fast in the Scottish Highlands. Hermione sat, book in hand and quill in the other, triple-checking her potions essay. Of course, she always got O’s, but Professor Snape had left her a note on her last essay. 

_ If you were in Slytherin, I would advocate for you to take your OWLS today. I will begin to challenge you. Every class you will be brewing a more complex potion that uses the rest of the class’ potion as a basis. I expect perfection. _

She was pleased with herself for finally being noticed by Snape, even if it meant more work on her part. It was difficult, with Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, with all the other classes as well, but she was confident. 

Hermione’s study session was interrupted by a school owl swooping through the common room’s owl hole and dropping a letter in her lap. She frowned, it was unusual for owls to deliver mail during the day. She stroked the owl in thanks as she took the letter, her brow furrowing farther- it was a letter from her father.

_ Hermione,  _

_ I’m glad those owls seem to know when I want to send you a letter, this couldn’t wait, even until tomorrow. Darling I’m so sorry but… your mother passed away this morning. _

 

Hermione paused, her breath catching as she felt her heart break. Tears filled her eyes but she blinked them away, she needed to know what happened. 

 

_ Do you remember the cold she caught, just before you left for school? It turned into a nasty infection of some sort, the doctors were baffled. They hospitalized her but she refused to let me tell you- she wanted you to focus on your studies. This morning, the nurse went in to give her the new medicine they were going to try and she’d passed on. The doctors say she went peacefully, in her sleep. I’m so sorry Pumpkin. If you want to come home today, I don’t blame you. I’m making arrangements to have her funeral the day you come back for the Holidays. I’ve sent a letter to your headmaster as well, asking him to have you come home early if you ask him. I love you so much Hermione.  _

_ Your father _

  
  


Hermione clutched the letter to her chest, tears falling down her cheeks. She heard the door to the dormitory open and quickly banished her books to her bed, grabbing her scarf and cloak and practically running for the door. As she bundled up, she allowed her feet to take her aimlessly around the castle. Her eyes blurred with tears, she vaguely recognized the path to the astronomy tower. She walked the steps slowly, biting her lip to keep from sobbing. She stepped out into the freezing chill and approached the edge of the tower. She closed her eyes, shaking as she processed that her mother was dead. Just as she was about to give up on fighting her tears, she heard a voice. 

“Did you mean it?” The voice was so soft she almost didn’t hear it. She whirled around, her despair flashing to hatred in a second, her tears drying up. Her pain made her voice stronger, adding venom to her response. 

“Yes. Every word. I have never met a more foul, vile person in my life.” Now sure she’d find no peace here, she headed for the stairs, intent on going down to the lake. She felt his freezing hand catch her wrist and used her momentum to swing about, eyes blazing as she prepared to give him a proper piece of her mind. 

“I never did.” Her words died on her lips and her heart beat irregularly.  _ What did he say? _ Her brow furrowed as she stared at him like some foreign creature.  He looked so… vulnerable. Defeated. “I never did” he repeated. _ Something must have happened. He’s never talked civilly to me… _

His hand slipped from her wrist and she took a moment to study him. He stood mostly in the shadows, looking ashen and solemn as he contemplated the forest. His eyes were a dark, angry grey- Hermione realized his eyes were usually cool grey, never this.. Dark. She took a step back, then another, before turning and heading back down the stairs. 

She turned right immediately, slipping into an alcove and waited for him to pass her. Several minutes later, he did. She watched him as he walked, clinging to the shadows, though he occasionally stepped into the light as he made his way down the corridor and to the stairs that would take him to his common room.

Hermione sank to the floor, her anger replaced with confusion and the despair from before appeared full force. As she cried for her mother, cried from her stress, and cried for no reason at all, one thought sunk into her subconscious. 

_ Perhaps he’s changed… Perhaps I should wait and see… _


End file.
